Implementations disclosed herein provide a transducer head including a writer feature extending to a transducer head surface, the transducer head surface being configured to face a storage medium surface; and a bumper structure configured on the transducer head surface, the bumper structure configured to be proximal to the writer feature and to protrude beyond the writer feature in response to energy.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A transducer head comprising: a writer feature, the writer feature including a near-field transducer (NFT) and a write pole, extending to a transducer head surface, the transducer head surface being configured to face a storage medium surface having tracks thereon; and a bumper structure configured on the transducer head surface, the bumper structure configured to be proximal to the writer feature and to protrude beyond the writer feature in response to energy, wherein the bumper structure is positioned between the writer feature and a leading edge of the transducer head surface, without overlapping the writer feature wherein the leading edge is furthest up-track with respect to a movement direction of the storage medium surface.
2. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is further configured to protrude beyond the writer feature in response to thermal energy.
3. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is further configured to protrude beyond the writer feature in response to optical energy.
4. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is configured to be adjacent to the writer feature.
5. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the writer feature includes a magnetic write pole.
6. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper feature is further configured to protrude beyond the writer feature towards the storage medium surface.
7. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the NFT is positioned in proximity of the bumper structure.
8. The transducer head of claim 1 , further comprising a heater structure configured to be heated using electrical current.
9. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is composed of magnetic material connected to a return pole of the transducer head.
10. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is composed of a magnetic material connected to a leading return pole.
11. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is composed of an optical material including at least one of AlO, TaO, TiO, SiO2, and SiN.
12. The transducer head of claim 1 , wherein the bumper structure is composed of a refractory material including at least one of Ru, NiRu, Ta, NiCr, NiW, NiCu, CoFeO, CoNiRe, and Cr.
13. A device, comprising: a bumper structure configured on a transducer head surface adjacent a storage medium having tracks thereon, the bumper structure configured to be up-track from a writer feature, including a near-field transducer and write pole, and to protrude beyond the writer feature in response to energy, wherein the bumper structure is positioned between the writer feature and a leading edge of the transducer head surface, without overlapping the writer feature wherein the leading edge is furthest up-track with respect to a movement direction of the storage medium.
14. The device of claim 13 , further comprising a heater structure positioned adjacent to the bumper structure and configured to receive electrical energy to generate heat.
15. The device of claim 13 , wherein the bumper structure is composed of a combination of a magnetic material connected to a leading return pole, an optical material, and a refractory material.
16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the magnetic material is connected to a leading return pole and separated from the refractory material with a thin-film insulator.
17. The device of claim 13 , wherein the bumper structure is composed of at least one of magnetic metal, a non-magnetic metal, and a dielectric material.
18. A device, comprising: a writer feature configured on a transducer adjacent a storage medium having tracks thereon, the writer feature including a write pole and a near field transducer (NFT) proximal to the write pole; a bumper structure configured to generate a protrusion towards the storage medium in response to receiving electrical energy, the bumper structure located up-track from the NFT and between the NFT and a leading edge of a transducer, without overlapping the writer feature, wherein the leading edge is furthest up-track with respect to a movement direction of the storage medium; and an asperity detector configured to determine clearance between the bumper structure and the storage medium.
19. The device of claim 18 , further comprising a controller configured to receive the clearance level from the asperity detector and adjust a level of energy applied to the bumper structure.
20. The device of claim 19 , wherein controller is further configured to adjust a level of electric current applied to the bumper structure.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
November 27, 2013
August 18, 2015
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